"Never have  so few done so much for fly fishers!"

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I am talking about the numerous conservation organizations and groups...national, state/regional as well as local clubs. If we, as fly fishers, simply string up the rod, grab a fly box and just go fishing without periodically giving some conscious thought about the water and the surrounding environment, we may well be sorry in the coming few years.

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To some extent, I was that way for the first two or three years I fly fished for trout here in Northern California. One day I was in my local fly shop and overheard a conversation two guys were having. They were talking...wondering really why there was no Trout Unlimited chapter in our local area. When I got up to the counter to pay for my purchases,...(in 45 years, I don't think I ever bought just one thing in any fly shop) I ask the shop owner if he was aware of any local fly fishing groups or clubs involved in trout conservation. Unfortunately, there were not but he did say that one of the two guys I had overheard had talked about perhaps starting something. A week or so later I got a call from the shop owner telling me that he had talked to another guy who had expressed some interest in getting involved in a local group. The shop owner said he had the names of two guys he knew that might be interested in trying to start something locally. The following Saturday, the three of us met at the fly shop around a small table in the corner. About an hour later, a decision was made to start a local Trout Unlimited chapter. I had been elected...appointed really to be the "president". I contacted TU and soon the North Bay Chapter of Trout Unlimited had its first meeting...again in the fly shop. In addition to the three of us, we had somehow found a few others to attend...a grand total of six.

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In just the three years I was president and with the help of a few dedicated members, the membership grew to over 100 people and 40-50 of them were actively involved in the monthly meetings and the projects we were able to get off the ground. I have since moved from that area but that small group of just three has continued to grow, it changed its name to the Golden Gate Chapter and been able to widen its membership area. I am told the membership now numbers well into the hundreds.

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If there is a moral to this story, it is that you or a small group of like-minded individuals can make a difference...